DVD Review – Fulboy
2 min read
Fulboy is tantalising look at the athletic male form and the private lives of professional footballers. Martin Farina is an Argentinian filmmaker, writer and director with a love of football, who wanted to explore the private side of professional athletes. While you hear his voice in the film, he never appears on screen, with the audience finding him in his fascination with the players. The point-of-view shots follow him gazing at the men’s form with an intense adoration .
Farina’s younger brother Tomás is a member of the team, which helps Martin gain a backstage pass to the locker rooms, the hotel rooms and the more private moments the players spend with each other. Even with Farina’s focus on their bodies, what the men are discussing in the film give depth to the story. Fulboy explores the lengths in which professional athletes playing the most popular sport in the world sacrifice time with their families and friends to play football. But it isn’t just about playing football, these men are setting them selves up for the future, to ensure their children can get an education and they can survive after they retire.
There is a definite feeling of mistrust between the players and Farina, who the players make clear, is only allowed in the room because they trust his brother. They tell him even after he is gone, they talk about more important things, and how they feel compelled to perform for him the way they do for the press. However, as time goes on, the conversations the players have with Farina and in front of Farina become more and more personal.
It’s heartbreaking watching these men who spend a lot of their time in front of the camera and in the media, who are painfully aware of their public status, discuss their personal lives and how their fame affects them. They are often shot looking in the mirror, checking their hair, making sure they look picture ready as they leave the hotel room, knowing the press will photograph them. They are forced to appear as perfection, and this takes a toll on their lives.
Fulboy does exactly what Farina set out to do, explore the more private side of professional football. Through Farina’s eyes you begin to see the separation between the public and private persona’s these athletes have, and begin to understand there is much more to the picture.
Whether you are into football, into men, or into both, Fulboy has everything you could wish for. Fullboy is an uncensored look into the lives of professional footballers that leaves the you questioning if you really should be staring at these men who work so hard the way you, and Farina are. With mesmerising bodies and confessional moments, Fulboy achieves something you wish the media could: a portrayal of professional athletes as both sexy and real.
